Chris Carmichael

Cycling Strong When You Feel Weak

Come on, you've all faked it it at one time or another. Faking it is just something you have to do sometimes. On my last ride with my coaching staff, I was faking it something fierce.

My travel schedule has put me in the worst of this spring's weather. When I leave Colorado Springs, the sun starts shining and when I come back it's snowing. When I go to North Carolina or California I get sick, and when I go to the Midwest it rains or snows. And as my fitness stagnates, my coaches are getting stronger and faster, which was clearly evident as we hit the first of many rolling hills on a recent three-hour ride.

The route takes us south of Colorado Springs, slightly downhill for the first 30 minutes. Then you meander through the town of Fountain and head east on Squirrel Creek Road for about 11.5 miles. Oddly, I've never seen a squirrel on that road, but that might be because of the many hawks, foxes, coyotes and rattlesnakes I have seen out there. But I digress. The problem with Squirrel Creek is that it's a never-ending series of rolling hills, and if you're the slow guy in the group, each one takes that much more out of you.

After Squirrel Creek, you turn north on Peyton Highway for 10 miles, which is another complete misnomer because it's a two-lane country road. Then again, it is paved, which is a big deal in that part of the county, so maybe that's how it earned the distinction of being a highway. Anyhow, the rolling hills continue on Peyton Highway, and to make matters worse, the low point of the entire ride was back in Fountain, so all these rolling hills are also accumulating to an overall elevation gain.

After riding north for a while, you turn back west. This is all open prairie and grassland. The four turns on this ride are just about the only times your handlebars deviate from straight ahead. Colorado Route 94 takes you all the way back into Colorado Springs, but there are three short, ball-buster hills to cover first. Overall, the route is 58 miles and the office-ride record is 2:41. We weren't anywhere close to a record-setting pace, but right from the first big roller I started feeling my relative lack of miles. I was in for a long day, but I didn't want to slow the group down or get dropped.

In order to stay in a group with stronger riders, it helps to be able to fake strength. In a race or aggressive group ride, people can sense weakness and will attack once they see you suffering. My coaches weren't going to attack me and leave me out there to struggle on my own, but it was still a good idea to create a facade of strength and do everything possible to conserve energy.

How do you do it?

Pair up with the next-weakest rider.
You're riding two-by-two and you don't want to skip pulls, but you also can't stay on the front very long. Pair up with another rider who isn't going to take a long pull either, and then choose a landmark to determine the end of your short pull: The top of the next rise, that mailbox in the distance, whatever. The person you're riding with will gladly pull off and no one will really know which one of you needed to go to the back of the line so soon.

Roll a big gear on flat ground.
I've been advocating high-cadence cycling for years, but when you're trying to survive you want to rely as much as possible on momentum. When you're in the draft and on flat ground, shift into a bigger gear and apply just enough power to maintain your speed. If you have a power meter, you'll see your wattage drop significantly. This helps to conserve energy for the rolling hills, bigger climbs, your next short pull, or a time when the pace goes up.

Take the center position.
This one's a little mean, but it's effective. When you're riding two-by-two, and depending on the direction of the wind, the best place to ride may be with your front wheel in between the rear wheels of the pair in front of you. The trouble is, this will put the rider you're paired with to the outside of the double paceline. In a crosswind situation, this isn't a problem. But when you do it without the crosswind, you're just sticking someone else out in the wind. As I said, it's a bit mean, but sometimes you have to do what you need to do to stay with the group.

Control the pace on a climb.
You have to be on the front to control the pace of the group, and the most important time to control the pace is on a climb where you might otherwise get dropped. The trick here is to gradually bring the pace down to what you can sustain for the climb; don't try to dig deep to hold the pace the faster guys might have held. Depending on the group, this will only work a few times, so choose your opportunities wisely. If the group accelerates around you midway up the hill, raise your effort level slightly so you slowly drift back through the group instead of rocketing out the back. If you're lucky, you'll reach the top of the climb before you reach the back of the pack.

Of course, the trick no one talks about is hoping someone gets a flat tire, drops a water bottle, or that the whole group gets stuck at a train crossing so you can get a little rest. I got lucky this last time. One of my coaches dropped a water bottle just when my facade of strength was breaking apart. We backed off for a few minutes to let him get back on, and that was all the rest I needed to fake it through the rest of the ride.

Think it's bad to fake it? Well, the pros do it too. There are days when you have crappy legs for the first two hours of a road race and you have to fake it until your legs come around. Very few riders have great legs throughout an entire race; you have to learn to project strength while you're at your weakest. Do what you have to do to get through the bad patches, because when you find your legs again, you can still win.